[Update: Wright has stepped down from his post on Obama's campaign. It's too little, too late. Obama has known the pastor for 20 years and that he named him at all to his team strikes at the very core of his whole 'judgment' argument. The reversing of the decision by Team Obama to keep Wright on made earlier in the day only reinforces their weakness and their non-understanding of the seriousness of the words of Rev. Wright.]
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(This diary is cross-posted at MyDD)
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There's no escaping this one.
No blame to be placed on his Democratic rival, no discussions among Anderson Cooper, Gloria Borger and other 360 guests about the triviality of the subject matter which is going to make things go away.
And thus, the chickens have come home to roost for the Illinois Senator. Some people may be able to be hookwinked and bamboozled about what someone did or did not say, but two things stand above all others in our American culture:
Money and video.
By now, you have likely seen some footage of the man who dashed the Oval Office hopes of Senator Obama. You've probably heard the fire and brimstone of the pastor whose Trumpet Magazine gave Louis Farrakhan -- a figure which it said "truly epitomized greatness" -- it's Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award. This is the same Jeremiah Wright who accompanied Farrakhan on a visit to meet with Libyan strongman Colonel Muammar Khadafi in 1984, or around the same time when many in Europe and the Americas were coming to believe that Khadafi was one the world's primary terrorist financial backers.
Yes, this Jeremiah Wright is part of Obama's official campaign. And the campaign said today that there are no plans for Wright to step-down from his role with Obama's team. He has been Obama's pastor for approximately 20 years. He married Michelle and Barack Obama, and baptized their children. (...)
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"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes three-strike laws and wants them to sing God Bless America.
"No! No No!
"God damn America ... for killing innocent people.
"God damn America for threatening citizens as less than humans.
"God damn America as long as she tries to act like she is God and supreme."
- An excerpt from an April, 2003 Wright sermon
In the backdrop Wright sways at 1/2 normal speed, while his words crackle through the speaker. His ties to Obama recounted in large type as the viewer watches. Ominous music plays in the background, faintly.
Cut to John McCain, with wife Cindy on a grassy hill in front of a large flagpole with Old Glory ruffling magnificently in the wind.
"I'm John McCain, and I approved this message."
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"We bombed Hiroshima. We bombed Nagasaki. And we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye," Wright said.
"We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because of stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own backyard. America is chickens coming home to roost."
- Pastor Wright in a sermon shortly after 9/11
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There are some problematic long-term associations which can be managed. Witness Obama's 17 year association with political fixer Tony Rezko. Though Rezko is currently standing trial and the Senator was mentioned, euphemistically, in the indictment documents, Rezko's corruption has yet to really impact Obama's presidential bid.
Other affiliations, however, will not withstand the scrutiny which a presidential bid necessarily entails.
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"Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people," Wright said. "Hillary would never know that.
"Hillary ain’t never been called a ni***r. Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person."
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There are differences between someone you bought property with and who funded your campaign and someone who you refer to as your spiritual adviser, someone whose words touched you enough that they led you to name your book "The Audacity of Hope" based on what your pastor had said.
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"Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain’t! Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty."
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You have discussed throughout this campaign season, Senator Obama, the power of words. That words have great import.
I agree with you.
Deeds also mean a great deal. Deeds such as the giving of $22,500 to Jeremiah Wright's church in 2006. Deeds such as naming Wright part of your official campaign. Deeds such as utilizing another one of Wright's flock -- Oprah Winfrey -- as an important part of your campaign strategy.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this essay, Americans respond to two things:
Money and video.
Your money has gone to support Reverend Wright and his church over the years.
And every person around the world can see Wright's hateful,
bigoted speech for him- and herself. This is the man and the church which you subsidized, Senator. This is the man who married you and your (just recently proud of her country as an adult) wife. This is the man who baptized your children, who you chose as your spiritual adviser, who you made part of your official campaign and said today you had no plans on removing from his position.
There is no way out of this for us Democrats, not if we want to win back the White House which has been sullied by Dubya over the past 8 years. We all know the ads that will come, the pounding we will take not only at the top but throughout the length of the ticket should we nominate you. We will be called haters of our own country, non-patriotic, persons who blame 9/11 on America.
It is over, Senator Obama. Please do the right thing and walk away so that our Party has some hope in November. You have chosen poorly in the past with both Rezko and Wright, but the time still exists for you to make the correct and honorable decision now, for the good of both our Party and our nation.
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Some of the articles used as references for this diary:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
http://elections.foxnews.com/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...